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Home Articles No, Ray Kurzweil Is Not Right (Again), and You Wont Meet His Immortal Soul in the Cloud

Ray Kurzweil, a prominent futurist, envisions a future where humans transcend biological limitations, merge with machines, and achieve digital immortality. In a recent Wired article, he reiterated his belief in the imminent arrival of the singularitya point where artificial intelligence surpasses human intelligence and enables unprecedented technological and existential transformations. Kurzweil foresees a time when humans will merge with AI, leading to enhanced cognitive abilities and even the possibility of uploading ones consciousness to the cloud, thus achieving a form of digital immortality. While Kurzweils optimism captivates many, it also raises important questions, particularly from a Catholic perspective. What I want to do in this article is provide pushback to Kurzweils understanding of mind and consciousness using Bernard Lonergans theory of intentional consciousness and Robert Dorans concept of psychic conversion, arguing that Kurzweils vision is fundamentally flawed.

The Catholic tradition holds that human consciousness is not merely a product of biological processes or computational simulations but involves a spiritual dimension that cannot be replicated or transferred to machines. Catholic teaching emphasizes the unity of body and soul (hylomorphism), reflecting the belief that human beings are created in the image and likeness of God, the imago Dei. This unity implies that the body and soul are not separate entities but rather interdependent, forming a single, integral human person. The soul is the spiritual principle that animates the body, providing it with life and identity. Consequently, the soul cannot be reduced to a mere set of computational processes or data points.

Catholic doctrine upholds the inherent dignity of the human person, which is grounded in this body-soul unity and the divine image. Every human being possesses an inviolable worth and a unique purpose bestowed by God. This dignity is not contingent upon ones abilities, achievements, or technological enhancements but is inherent from the moment of conception until natural death. Such a view contrasts sharply with Kurzweils vision, which seems to reduce human identity to the brains functionalities and capabilities, potentially neglecting each persons intrinsic value irrespective of their cognitive enhancements or digital representations.

Lonergans theory of intentional consciousness offers a more comprehensive and accurate understanding of the human mind.

The divine purpose of human existence, as taught by the Catholic Church, encompasses more than the mere extension of life or the enhancement of cognitive faculties. It involves a call to communion with God and others, a journey toward moral and spiritual growth, and the ultimate fulfillment in the beatific visionseeing God face to face in eternal life. This transcendent destiny cannot be fulfilled through technological means alone. It requires a relationship with God, nurtured through faith, prayer, and the sacraments, which technology cannot substitute.

For this reason, Kurzweils thesis is predicated on an erroneous conception of consciousness. If we accept his conception, then his conclusions as to the future of human consciousness are at least potentially plausible. However, Lonergans theory of intentional consciousness offers a more comprehensive and accurate understanding of the human mind.

Lonergans theory outlines four levels of consciousness: experiencing, understanding, judging, and deciding. These levels are not merely sequential steps but are integrated and cumulative, with each level sublating the previous ones. Intentional consciousness is characterized by the dynamic and self-transcendent pursuit of knowledge and meaning.

According to Lonergan, intentional consciousness is driven by an unrestricted desire to know, which leads to self-transcendencea movement toward truth, goodness, and, ultimately, God. This holistic approach emphasizes that human consciousness is not confined to computational processes but is indissolubly interwoven with spiritual and moral dimensions that guide our pursuit, our pure desire for knowledge and meaning.

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By contrast, Kurzweils reductionist view fails to account for these complexities. His focus on the technological enhancement of cognitive functions overlooks the integral unity of human consciousness that Lonergan describes. This unity involves not just data processing but an irreducible engagement with reality through experience, understanding, judgment, and decision-making, all oriented toward transcendent values. It is for this reason that Kurzweils vision of the singularity and digital immortality, while technologically intriguing, lacks the depth of insight provided by Lonergans framework. It is this richer, more integrated understanding of consciousness that reveals the limitations of Kurzweils thesis and underscores the importance of recognizing the spiritual and moral dimensions of human existence.

Robert Doran, a student and propagator of Lonergans thought, expands on this framework with his concept of psychic conversion. Psychic conversion involves the integration of the psyche with intentional consciousness, aligning emotional and symbolic functions with the rational and moral dimensions of the self. It entails a healing and creative process where the psyche is oriented toward the divine and moral good.

Doran explains that psychic conversion is essential for a holistic understanding of human consciousness. This concept involves a transformative process where the various dimensions of the psyche are integrated harmoniously with the intellect and will, leading to a well-balanced and fully functioning human person. This type of conversion draws on depth psychology to elucidate how psychic conversion works. It involves the reconciliation of unconscious elements with conscious awareness, facilitating the integration of repressed emotions, memories, and desires into a cohesive and conscious self. This process allows individuals to confront and transcend internal conflicts and traumas that impede their psychological and spiritual growth.

In practical terms, psychic conversion manifests as a journey toward greater self-awareness and emotional maturity. It helps individuals to recognize and overcome the subconscious patterns and defenses that shape their behavior and interactions. This healing process enables a person to engage more authentically with their experiences, fostering genuine self-appropriation where ones actions and decisions align more closely with their true values and beliefs. For this reason, psychic conversion promotes a state of inner harmony that supports the intellect and will in their proper functions. The intellect, which seeks understanding and truth, and the will, which directs actions toward the good, are often compromised by unresolved psychological issues. By addressing these issues, psychic conversion ensures that the intellect and will can operate more freely and effectively, guided by a clear and undistorted perception of reality.

This holistic integration is crucial for authenticity in ones existential and moral life. Authenticity, in this context, refers to living in accordance with ones true self and values, free from the distortions of unresolved psychological conflicts. It involves a commitment to truth, goodness, and personal integrity, and it is discernible by a consistency between ones inner life and outer actions. In the context of Lonergans broader framework, psychic conversion enriches the process of intentional consciousness by ensuring that the foundational level of experience is not marred by psychological distortions. This, in turn, allows for a clearer and more accurate understanding, judgment, and decision-making. It aligns the entire structure of consciousness toward self-transcendence, enabling individuals to pursue their ultimate purpose and fulfillment in accordance with divine will.

It is essential to uphold human dignity and spiritual essence, recognizing that no artificial intelligence can replicate the mystery of the human soul.

Kurzweils vision of the singularity assumes that consciousness can be replicated and even improved through technological means. This perspective is grounded in a reductionist view that equates consciousness with computational processes. However, from Lonergan and Dorans standpoint, this view is fundamentally flawed for several reasons:

Kurzweils approach reduces consciousness to mere data processing, ignoring the spiritual and moral dimensions that are integral to human identity and existence. Lonergans theory emphasizes that true consciousness involves self-transcendence and the pursuit of higher values, which cannot be achieved by artificial means alone.

For Lonergan and Doran, authentic consciousness involves a genuine self-appropriation that integrates empirical, intellectual, rational, and existential dimensions. Kurzweils model fails to account for this integrated and holistic nature of consciousness, leading to a fragmented and incomplete understanding of what it means to be human.

The Catholic tradition, to which both Lonergan and Doran are fundamental, holds that human beings are imago Deicreated in the image of God, with a unique spiritual dimension that transcends material existence. Kurzweils vision is fundamentally materialistic, lacking this essential spiritual perspective, reducing human beings to their physical and cognitive functions without acknowledging their inherent dignity and divine purpose.

It is (at least) for these reasons that psychic conversion is crucial for understanding the full depth of human consciousness. Healing and integrating the psyche with higher levels of intentional consciousness enable individuals to achieve true self-transcendence. This process is not merely a psychological adjustment but an integral spiritual transformation that aligns the individual with the Divine Will and Purpose. Doran argues that without psychic conversion, individuals risk falling into inauthenticity and existential fragmentation. Kurzweils vision, which neglects the need for such an integral transformation, ultimately fails to address the deeper needs of the human soul. In contrast, psychic conversion offers a path toward genuine fulfillment and holistic well-being, grounded in a relationship with God and the vital commitment to moral and spiritual growth

Fundamentally, Ray Kurzweils vision of the singularity presents a technologically optimistic future but falls short of understanding the true nature of human consciousness. By neglecting the spiritual and moral dimensions integral to human existence, Kurzweils model offers a reductionist and incomplete perspective. By appropriating the more nuanced and integral perspectives of Bernard Lonergans theory of intentional consciousness and Robert Dorans concept of psychic conversion, it becomes clear that true consciousness involves a holistic integration of empirical, intellectual, rational, and existential dimensions oriented toward self-transcendence and divine purpose.

In the face of technological advancements, it is essential to uphold human dignity and spiritual essence, recognizing that no artificial intelligence can replicate the mystery of the human soul. By embracing the fullness of intentional consciousness and undergoing psychic conversion, individuals can achieve genuine self-transcendence, living out their divine calling with authenticity and grace. So, no, Kurzweil is not right (again).

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No, Ray Kurzweil Is Not Right (Again), and You Wont Meet His Immortal Soul in the Cloud - Word on Fire

Nanorobots to Take Over Human FunctionBlackJack3D - Getty Images

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Futurist Raymond Kurzweil has a new book coming that spells out why he believes that nanorobots are the key to helping humans live significantly longer.

Kurzweil believes that the pursuit of human longevity centers on ensuring that our cells dont pile up damage as they reproduce.

The MIT-educated futurist, known for pioneering computer-based learning technologies, believes that pairing artificial intelligence with biotechnology can lead to aging solutions that transcend what we can even comprehend.

For over five decades, futurist Raymond Kurzweil has shown a propensity for understanding how computers can change our world. Now hes ready to anoint nanorobots as the key to allowing humans to transcend lifes ~120-year threshold.

As he wroteboth in the upcoming The Singularity is Nearer book (set for release on June 25) and in an essay published in Wiredthe merging of biotechnology with artificial intelligence will lead to nanotechnology helping overcome the limitations of our biological organs altogether.

As our bodies accumulate errors when cells reproduce over and over, it invites damage. That damage can get repaired quickly by young bodies, but less so when age piles up.

The only solution, longevity researchers argue, is to cure aging itself, Kurzweil wrote. In short, we need the ability to repair damage from aging at the level of individual cells and local tissues. There are a number of possibilities being explored for how to achieve this, but I believe the most promising ultimate solution is nanorobots.

To put this in context, however, this is one mans vision of the future. There is currently no technology even approaching what Kurzweil is predicting, nor is there any guarantee his vision will come to pass. But, there is also no guarantee that it wonteventually, anyway.

Kurzweil said he agrees with biomedical gerontologist Aubrey de Greys belief that the first person to live to 1,000 years has likely already been born. If the nanotechnology of 2050 solves enough issues of aging for 100-year-olds to start living to 150, well then have until 2100 to solve whatever new problems may crop up at that age, Kurzweil said. With AI playing a key role in research by then, progress during that time will be exponential.

Kurzweil admits all these projections may sound absurd right now, but he believes that there are solid reasons to bear this out through medical nanorobots. He believes that diamondoid nanorobots with onboard sensors, manipulators, computers, communicators, and even power supplies could work in the human bloodstream at the size of a cell. Each body may require several hundred billion nanobots to repair and augment degrading organs.

By monitoring the supply of these vital substances, adjusting their levels as needed, and maintain organ structures, nanobots can keep a persons body in good health indefinitely, he wrote. Ultimately, nanobots will be able to replace biological organs altogether, if needed or desired.

Not only does he envision the nanobots preserving normal functions and limiting the impact of aging, but he thinks they could create a more optimal human body.

Once nanobots can selectively repair or destroy individual cells, he said, we will fully master our biology, and medicine will become the exact science it has long aspired to be.

But living longer isnt all that Kurzweil believes will happen thanks to technology. As the field of nanotech grows, the role of nanobots in human bodies will only mature with it, he claims. At some point, the body may become more than 99.9 percent nonbiological. He envisions a situation wherein technology is gaining complete control of DNA sequencing, AIs ability to understand the human body fixes problems before the arise, nanocomputers control how our body functions by rewriting DNA and controlling cells, and (at some point) our blood and brain tissue get replaced by nanobots that connect us directly to the machines controlling us.

By the 2040s or 2050s, Kurzweil believes that we will have rebuilt our bodies and brains far beyond what we know today. As nanotechnology takes off, we will be able to produce an optimized body at will, he said. Well be able to run much faster and long, swing and breathe under the ocean like fish, and even give ourselves working wings if we want them. We will think millions of times faster, but more importantly, we will not be dependent on the survival of any of our bodies for our selves to survive.

Only time will tell if hes right.

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A Scientist Says Humans Are Rapidly Approaching Singularityand Plausible Immortality - AOL

Shift Your Mindset is a monthly series from CNNs Mindfulness, But Better team. We talk to experts about how to do things differently to live a better life.

Since time immemorial, humans have done their darnedest to try and cheat death. Today, as revolutionary advancements transform the stuff of science fiction into everyday reality, are we closer to extending our lifespan or even perhaps immortality?

If so, do we really want eternal life? In his new book, Why We Die: The New Science of Aging and the Quest for Immortality, Nobel Prize-winning molecular biologist Venki Ramakrishnan sifts through past and cutting-edge research to uncover the aspirational theories and practical limitations of longevity. Along the way, he raises critical questions about the societal, political and ethical costs of attempts to live forever.

Already, humans live twice as long as we did 150 years ago due to increased knowledge about diseases and their spread. Does that suggest interventions to triple or quadruple our lifespan lie just around the corner? Ramakrishnan shares his perspectives on the realities of aging, death and immortality.

This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

CNN: What is aging? How does it lead to death?

Venki Ramakrishnan: Aging is an accumulation of chemical damage to the molecules inside our cells, which damages the cells themselves, and therefore the tissue, and then eventually us as an organism. Surprisingly, we start aging when were in the womb, although at that point, were growing faster than were accumulating damage. Aging happens throughout our lives, right from the very beginning.

The body has evolved lots of mechanisms to correct age-related damage to our DNA and to any poor-quality proteins we produce. Without ways to correct these sorts of problems, we would never live as long as we do. Still, over time, damage begins to outpace our ability to repair.

Think of the body as like a city containing lots of systems that must work together. Once an organ system critical to our survival fails, we die. For example, if our muscles become so frail that our heart stops beating, it cant pump the blood containing the oxygen and nutrients our organs need and we die. When we say someone dies, we mean the death of them as an individual. In fact, when we die, most of ourselves, such as our organs, are alive. This is why the organs of accident victims can be donated to transplant recipients.

CNN: Does human lifespan have a fixed limit?

Ramakrishnan: The lifespans of all organisms range from a few hours or days for insects to hundreds of years for certain whales, sharks and giant tortoises. A layperson might assume that all life forms are preset to die once theyve reached a certain age. But biologists dont believe that aging and death are programmed in the sense that a fertilized egg is programmed to develop into a human being.

Instead, evolution has optimized a lifespan equation of resource allocation thats optimized for every species. Larger animals tend to live longer. If youre a small animal and therefore more likely to get eaten by a predator, starve or die in a flood it makes no sense for evolution to waste resources repairing the damage necessary to keep you alive longer. Instead, evolution selects for growing fast and maturing quickly so you can reproduce and pass along your genes.

If youre a larger animal, staying alive longer will grant you a better chance of finding a mate with whom you can have more offspring over your longer lifetime. Lifespan is all about evolution maximizing the chances of your passing along your genes. In humans, this finely tuned resource balance grants us a maximum lifespan of about 120 years. But that doesnt mean we cant alter biology and intervene in these processes of aging, and maybe extend our lives. Like many aging scientists, I believe that its possible. I dont, however, share their optimism for how feasible such interventions would be.

CNN: Who has lived the longest so far?

Ramakrishnan: The oldest person for whom we have reliable records was a French woman named Jeanne Calment, who died in 1997 at age 122. She smoked for all but the last five years of her life and ate more than two pounds of chocolate every week. But I wouldnt recommend those particular strategies for longevity, except for the chocolate perhaps.

CNN: Can the aging clock ever run backward?

Ramakrishnan: The aging clock does run backward, every generation. Although a child is born from the cells of adult parents, the child still starts at age zero. A child born to a woman whos 40 years old is not 20 years older than a child born to a 20-year-old; theyre both starting at zero. So, at some level, the aging clock can reverse.

Theres also cloning. While Dolly, perhaps the most famous cloned sheep, was sickly and died at about half the normal age, other cloned sheep have gone on to live normal lives. This has convinced some that resetting the aging clock must be possible on a wider scale. While tricking adult cells into becoming embryonic and beginning to grow again has been successful, practical difficulties make cloning very inefficient. Many cells have accumulated too much damage to take, which necessitates an enormous number of experiments to grow a single animal.

Experiments in mice, meanwhile, have used cellular reprogramming so that cells can revert developmentally, partway, to have the capacity to regenerate tissue. By converting cells to a slightly earlier state, scientists have produced mice with better blood markers and improved fur, skin and muscle tone. Despite all the research in this area, Im not sure how easy its going to be to translate into something useful for humans.

CNN: Your father just turned 98. What bearing will his good health and independence likely have on your own life? How much of aging and longevity are influenced by genetics?

Ramakrishnan: There is a correlation between the ages of parents and their children, but its not perfect. A study of 2,700 Danish twins showed that heritability how much of our longevity is due to our genes only accounted for about 25% of lifespan. Still, researchers have found that mutation in just a single gene can double the lifespan of a certain type of worm. Clearly theres a genetic component, but the effects and implications are complex.

CNN: What does cancer science reveal about anti-aging research?

Ramakrishnan: The relationship between cancer and aging is complicated. The same genes can have different effects over time, helping us grow when were young but increasing risk of dementia and cancer when were older. Our risk of cancer increases with age because we accumulate defects in our DNA and genome, which sometimes cause gene malfunctions that lead to cancer. But many of our cellular repair systems that seem to be designed to avoid cancer early in life also cause aging later.

For example, cells can sense breaks in our DNA that might allow chromosomes to join in an abnormal way, which could lead to cancer. To prevent that joining, a cell will either kill itself or enter a state called senescence, where it can no longer divide. From the perspective of an organism like us, which has trillions of cells, this makes sense. Even if millions of cells are destroyed this way, these actions protect the whole organism. But the buildup of senescent cells is one of the ways we age.

CNN: Has your research on why we die influenced how you live your life?

Ramakrishnan: Its interesting that all the evidence-based recommendations for what can help us live a long, healthy life reflect the common-sense advice thats been passed on through the ages. We got it from our grandmothers: Dont be gluttonous. Get exercise. Avoid stress, which creates hormonal effects that change our metabolism and can accelerate aging. Get enough sleep.

Aging research is helping us understand the deep biological implications of this advice. Eating a variety of healthy foods in moderation can prevent the health risks of obesity. Exercise helps us regenerate new mitochondria the powerhouses of our cells that provide energy. Sleeping allows our bodies to do molecular-level repair. Learning the biology behind this age-old, rock-solid advice can encourage us to take other actions that will help promote a long and healthy life.

Personally, I often say Im way past my expiration date, but as a human being, I still feel like Im alive and have things to contribute.

CNN: What are the societal costs of the quest to cheat aging and death, particularly inequities?

Ramakrishnan: Already the top 10% of income earners in both the US and the UK live more than a decade longer than the bottom 10%. If you look at health span the number of years of healthy life that disparity is even greater. Poorer people are living shorter, less healthy lives.

Many very rich people are pouring huge amounts of money into research, hoping to develop sophisticated technologies to prevent aging. If these efforts succeed, the very rich will benefit initially, followed by people with very good insurance, and so on. Rich countries will likely have access before poorer countries. So, both within countries and globally, such advancements have the potential to increase inequalities.

CNN: Has exploring this topic changed your thoughts and feelings about aging and dying?

Ramakrishnan: Most of us dont want to get old or leave this life. We dont want to go while the partys still going on. But even as cells in our body are made and die all the time, we continue to exist. Similarly, life on Earth will go on as individuals come and go. At some level, we have to accept thats just part of the scheme of things.

I think this quest for immortality is a mirage. One hundred and fifty years ago, you could expect to live until about 40. Today, life expectancy is about 80, which, as author Steven Johnson has said, is almost like adding a whole extra life. But were still obsessed about dying. I think if we lived to be 150, wed be fretting about why were not living to 200 or 300. Its never-ending.

Jessica DuLong is a Brooklyn, New York-based journalist, book collaborator, writing coach and the author of Saved at the Seawall: Stories From the September 11 Boat Lift and My River Chronicles: Rediscovering the Work That Built America.

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Why do we die? The latest on aging and immortality from a Nobel Prize-winning scientist - Yahoo Singapore News

In a revolutionary leap towards achieving human immortality, a team of visionary Chinese scientists has announced a groundbreaking discovery that could potentially reverse the ageing process and shield individuals from debilitating illnesses.

The breakthrough anti-ageing therapy, based on harnessing the power of hydrogen atoms, has sparked hope for a future where the concept of Benjamin Button's reverse aging might become a reality.

This monumental revelation comes as researchers claim to have unlocked the long-pursued "holy grail" of anti-ageing, as detailed in a recent journal article published in Nature Communications.

According to the scientists, the key lies in the therapeutic properties of hydrogen atoms, long believed to possess the ability to combat the inevitable march of time.

The team's method revolves around the strategic use of hydrogen atoms to effectively reverse and slow down the ageing process, offering a potential shield against notorious conditions like Alzheimer's. Extensive tests have underscored the anti-inflammatory attributes of hydrogen, solidifying its role in the pursuit of everlasting youth.

The breakthrough hinges on the safe and efficient delivery of a high concentration of hydrogen molecules over an extended period. In a stroke of scientific ingenuity, the researchers devised a scaffold implant utilizing cutting-edge nanotechnology.

This implant, a marvel in itself, boasts a staggering 40,000 times more efficacy than previous techniques, ensuring the direct and potent delivery of hydrogen molecules to humans.

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Breakthrough in anti-ageing as Chinese scientists unveil shocking discovery - SAMAA

At the end of the day, a lot of the AI enthusiasm among the technological “futurists” like Ray Kurzweil is based on certain assumptions of what a human being fundamentally is. Casey Luskin reported on Kurzweil’s lecture at the recent COSM 2023 conference, noting how he is convinced that AI is humanity’s destiny, and will serve as our functional “God figure,” all-knowing, self-determining, sentient.

Kurzweil sees the human person in purely scientific terms: if we can achieve a certain level of technological advancement, we will transcend our limits and take the next step of human evolution. Technology will be our religion, the means to our immortality.

Jacques Maritain, a French philosopher, shared helpful thoughts about the human person in his essay on education titled “The Aims of Education.” Maritain acknowledges two different ways of seeing people: the scientific or philosophical-religious. He writes,

The purely scientific idea of man tends only to link together measurable and observable data taken as such, and is determined from the very start not to consider anything like being or essence, not to answer any question like: Is there a soul or isn’t there? Does the spirit exist or only matter? Is there freedom or determinism? Purpose or chance? Value or simple fact? For such questions are out of the realm of science. The purely scientific idea of man is, and must be, a phenomenalized idea without reference to ultimate reality.

You probably have seen those “trust the science” billboards and yard signs. What the architects of such vague signage seem to have neglected is that the catchy phrase itself is a value statement, not a scientific one. Confusing science with a philosophyof science is an easy swamp to get mired in, but our country is currently rife with the consequences. Trusting the science often meant, particularly during COVID-19, going along with the current groupthink heralded by technocratic idealogues. Much of the consensus was later subverted by new information.

But that’s sort of a rabbit hole. The real issue here is seeing human beings as purely material beings, devoid of soul, spirit, or intrinsic dignity and meaning. Material creatures need material solutions.

But suppose we are immaterial andmaterial at the same time? Suppose we are soulsand not just meat machines? Maritain goes on to illustrate an alternative concept of the human person that allows for such categories. He writes,

Man is a person, who holds himself in hand by his intelligence and his will. He does not merely exist as a physical being. There is in him a richer and nobler existence; he has spiritual superexistence through knowledge and love. He is thus, in some way, a whole, not merely a part; he is a unvierse unto himself, a microcosm in which the great universe in its entirety can be encompassed through knowledge. And through love he can give himself freely to beings who are to him, as it were, other selves; and for this relationship no equivalent can be found in the physical world.

It’s a beautiful, deep picture of what it means to be a person, and indicates a mystery that we can’t ever fully “compute.” We’ve spoken much here at Mind Mattersabout how we bear certain characteristics that computers will never be able to bear. Creativity, sentience, and love are some of them, to name a few. But even more fundamentally, computers aren’t persons. They aren’t souls. And if you believe that we’re more than just computational brains on meatsticks, we’ll never be replaced by AI.

Excerpt from:

Jacques Maritain on the Human Person - Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence